


Like the Sunrise

by LovelyLittleGrim



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: End of the World! AU, First Kiss, Fluff, Implied Character Death, Light Angst, M/M, Strangers, human! au, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 10:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14998445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelyLittleGrim/pseuds/LovelyLittleGrim
Summary: “Are you Liam Dunbar?”“Yeah,” Liam says cautiously because the last time something like this happened he got punched in the face. “Can I help you...?”“Theo,” The guy says looking supremely unimpressed as he rocks back onto his heels, a single brow raised. “I’m here about the ad you posted on Craigslist.”“Ad,” Liam repeats dumbly, his mind working in overtime. What ad?





	Like the Sunrise

 Someone is knocking on Liam’s door, loudly. Each thump reverberating through Liam’s head like a tiny explosion going off. He can practically see the red-yellow of an atom bomb on the inside of his eyelids.  
  
“Fuck,” he groans out in pain and squeezes his eyes closed as tightly as he can.

He’s aware of the sunlight now, filtering in through his dusty blinds. It makes his eyes burn and his stomach churn with nausea. He’d drank entirely too much the night before, he’s honestly a little surprised that he’s even alive at this point.

There’s a lull in sound and for one blissful moment Liam thinks that the annoying person at his door has gone away, but then the knocking sounds again, this time even louder.  
  
“No,” he whines pitifully at the person, but the knocking doesn’t stop, it just goes on and on.

Maybe he did die from alcohol poisoning the night before and he’s now stuck in some annoying hell loop. Liam scoffs at himself and pushes the thought from his muddled brain. Reaching out with his left-hand Liam searches for the edge of the bed, his fingertips wrapping around it so that he can pull himself towards it. A single leg slides off and thumps heavily to the floor.

 _Good,_ he thinks. _That’s progress._

He tries to do the same with his second leg, but instead of doing what he wants it to do the offending limb takes his entire body with it when it falls. He thuds heavily to the floor, the air knocking itself from his lungs. Liam wheezes as he lays there on the floor, eyes staring mutinously up at his chipping ceiling, the knocking still doesn’t stop.

Liam turns onto his stomach, lifts himself up as best he can and pushes himself up to his feet. He sways minutely, his equilibrium apparently missing this morning along with any and all patience. He feels vaguely nauseous, but thankfully he doesn’t think he’s going to puke.

 _God, he hates hangovers._  
  
“I’m coming,” he grumbles beneath his breath as he marches towards his front door. He pulls it open and blinks blearily at the person in front of him. “What?”  
  
The person frowns at him one hand still raised in preparation to knock yet again as though Liam hadn’t heard him the first three hundred times. “Are you Liam Dunbar?”  
  
“Yeah,” Liam says cautiously because the last time something like this happened he got punched in the face. “Can I help you...?” He trails off, waiting for the stranger to supply a name.  
  
“Theo,” The guy says looking supremely unimpressed as he rocks back onto his heels, a single brow raised. “I’m here about the ad you posted on Craigslist.”  
  
“Ad,” Liam repeats dumbly, his mind working in overtime.

 _What ad?_  
  
“Yeah,” Theo says slowly, his brows beginning to furrow. “The one about a friend for the end of the world.”  
  
Liam scratches at the back of his neck. That sounds like something he would do, but his brain is a foggy mess of memories from last night. He’s beginning to think drinking with Corey and Mason was a terrible idea.  
  
“Never mind,” Theo says and turns to go. “Coming here was a stupid idea to begin with.”  
  
“Wait, no,” Liam says quickly and plucks at the back of Theo’s leather jacket. “Hold on a minute, I’m just a little hungover and confused.”  
  
Theo turns back to face him, and Liam’s sleepy mind is struck by how hot the guy standing in front of him is. Decked out in all black, his eyes stand out so starkly. They’re green and riddled with annoyance and an undercurrent of fear, the fear everyone felt since yesterday morning when the news finally told them what was happening.  
  
“How long do you expect me to ‘hold on’ exactly,” Theo asks blandly, his eyes dropping to where Liam's hand is still on him. "And how long do _you_ plan to hold on?"  
  
“Oh,” Liam says jerking his hand away. He moves awkwardly to the side and waves his dangling arms through the doorway. “Come in.”  
  
Theo gives him a disdainful look but steps inside, his shoulder brushing past Liam’s chest. He doesn’t wait for Liam, he just walks on in and down the hall towards the living room. Liam hurriedly closes the door and follows after him, his head feels like an elephant sat on it. He doesn't want to be dealing with whatever stupid thing he did now, but he's curious about what drunk him did.   
  
“So,” he says as he steps into the living room. Theo is standing next to his bookshelves, eyes flicking over the titles. “What did the ad say, exactly?”  
  
"You don't remember what you wrote?"

"I was... a little out of it," Liam says defensively. 

Theo looks at him over his shoulder and rolls his eyes before digging into the pocket of his jacket and pulling out his phone. Liam waits for him to unlock it and flip through a few things before he stops and tosses the phone at Liam. Liam squawks in surprise, his hands fumbling the cell phone before grasping it tightly.  
  
“Dude, what kind of monster just throws their cell phone like that? Especially when it doesn’t have a case on it,” Liam exclaims and then regrets it, his own voice feels like nails on a chalkboard.  
  
Theo shrugs coolly and slides his hands back into his pockets, his head turning back to the bookshelf. “It doesn’t really matter if it breaks anymore, no one’s going to be calling me before we all die."  
  
The words hit Liam in the chest like a sledgehammer. A painful reminder of what tonight entails and a wave of pity that the man before him has no one at all to call him.   
  
“Are you going to read the ad or stare at me the entire time,” Theo asks without even glancing over at him, his shoulders hunched up like he's trying to ward off Liam's eyes.   
  
Liam makes a face at his back and then drops his eyes down to the phone. He scrolls down to the actual ad he apparently posted and reads over it.  
  
“Oh, holy fuck,” he whispers in embarrassment as he takes in the horrifically misspelled words and grammar.   
  
_Dudes the world is actually ending!?!?! Like a rock is coming to murderr us._

_Hahaha =(_

  _Everyting is ending_

_AND I don’t have a person! How sad is that??_

_Mason my best friend has somone and my mom has someone and my ex girlfriend has somone and my ex boyfriend has somone… they have each other… those assholes…_

_Why don’t I habe a person?_

_I_   _’m cool. I’m super cool. Belice me! I’m Liam Dunbar. I forgot to teewl you. bad manner._

 _Oh no MAsons coming! He’s gonna laugh!! Gerry’s my address!! **260 Sofa’s Lamb apartments.**  Come eat tacos with me and die please!!!! <3_<3

O _h!! Knock a lot! And **No**  serial killers allowed!!!!11111_

 

Liam’s face is burning by the time he finishes reading the stupid ad. He wants to crawl into a hole and wait for the world to get smashed into a zillion pieces by the damn asteroid. 

“What type of person actually answers—Why would you even want to—” Liam flails lost for words. "Just, why?"  
  
_Who would actually respond to an ad like this? Liam sounds like a total drunken nut job. Which makes complete sense because last night that is exactly what he was. A lonely, drunken nut job wallowing about the end of the world and how his ex-boyfriend is now in a relationship with his ex-girlfriend, how fucked up is that?_  
  
“Because you’re ‘super cool’,” Theo says sarcastically.  
  
Liam snorts at that. He points at Theo. “I am, and don’t you forget it, pal.”

 “Oh, I  _belice_  you,” Theo scoffs reminding Liam just how badly he had spelled everything in that ad. Jesus, he can’t believe there’s someone that actually answered it.

 Nodding at the phone in Liam’s hands Theo says. “You might want to delete the ad, now. Unless you want more people to come witness just how cool you are.”

 Liam fumbles the phone hurriedly, signing Theo out from craigslist and signing himself in. He deletes the add quickly. He can’t even imagine what he would do if another person started knocking on his door right now and waving that horrifying ad around. He actually lets out a loud sigh of relief when the ad is officially gone and then looks up at Theo and nods as though he’s saying mission accomplished.  
  
Theo looks guarded as he stands across the room from Liam. His shoulders slightly hunched up as though he’s waiting for Liam to say it was just a joke and kick him out. Liam looks back down at the phone. He knows himself well enough to know that he definitely meant every single word while he had been writing it last night. And, though the words were horrifically misspelled and cringe-worthy they are all true. Everyone Liam knows has a person to hold their hand as the world ends, everyone except Liam, anyway. And, Liam does want someone to eat tacos with and die beside. He just never thought that the person he would be doing those things with would be a complete stranger.  
  
“Okay,” Liam says and nods his head, he doesn’t know if he’s nodding at himself or the situation or at Theo again. “Let me find some aspirin before I die ahead of schedule and then we can get this whole... friend thing started.”  
  
“Started?” Theo asks hesitantly.  
  
Liam smiles widely. “Oh yeah, dude, I’m going to friend the fuck out of you, just you wait and see.”  
  
Theo looks mildly worried as Liam turns and heads for the bathroom. Liam is a great friend. The best type of friend one could ever have. Theo doesn’t know the absolute awesomeness he’s in store for.

* * *

  
  
So, the awesomeness hasn’t started yet because the aspirin takes twenty minutes to kick in and Liam feels like Santa’s entire beard is now living on his tongue, but it’s coming, the awesomeness will happen, it’s just on a slight detour at the moment.  
  
“Is this it?” Theo asks from his spot on the couch opposite Liam. “Has it started? Because I gotta say that so far I’m not really being friend the fuck out of.”  
  
“Oh, it’s coming pal,” Liam tells him a little louder than he intends.

He wracks his brain for friend things that don’t require any type of movement yet.  
  
“Right,” Theo replies succinctly.  
  
“So, friend, where are you from,” Liam asks because twenty questions are the only thing he’s come up with so far and also because he wants to make sure Theo isn’t actually a serial killer.  
  
“Beacon hills,” Theo mumbles looking uncomfortable, his body shifting  
  
Liam freezes. “Like, as in Beacon Hills, California?”  
  
“Yeah,” Theo says.  
  
“Dude, me too,” Liam says. “Wait, how old are you? When did you graduate?” Did you go to Beacon Hills high school?”  
  
Theo just stares at him, there’s surprise etched into the lines of his face. His mouth slightly parted at the bombardment of questions. “I’m twenty-three. I dropped out of high school and I moved away from Beacon Hills when I was still in elementary school.

Liam nods, taking in all the answers, but then he freezes because Theo is only a two years older than him and they definitely had to have gone to elementary school together because there’s only one in the entirety of Beacon Hills, which means…

“Theo as in…Theodore Raeken,” Liam whispers in shock, his eyes widening as he stares at the man across from him.  
  
Theo’s mouth closes with a sharp click, his lips thinning. There’s a resigned look in his deep green eyes.  
  
Everyone in Beacon Hills knows about Theodore Raeken. His family had all been murdered while he was away at summer camp. The homicide was the talk of the town for months, years even, it was the second worse death case after the Hale fire. Three people being butchered in their sleep had never happened in the quaint little town of Beacon Hills before.

Liam had been at the same camp as Theo but being two years younger they had never talked. When the cops came with a social worker to take Theo away everyone had seen it. All the chatter in the mess hall had died as they lead him out of the mess hall, then each and every kid in there had run to the window to witness him being placed in the back of a police car.  
  
Child Liam had thought that Theo was the bad guy at the time, the cops coming to take him away. That’s just what he had been taught, the cops take away the bad people to protect the good ones. Liam hadn’t learned the truth until two weeks later when he returned home, and Mason had excitedly told him all about it.

Liam had felt sick for days after learning the truth. He had lost his own father a year and a half prior to cancer so he knew what it was like to lose a loved one. Little Liam couldn’t even begin to fathom what it would be like to lose all your loved ones at the same time and to lose everything you had ever known.

No one knows what had happened to Theodore Raeken, he’d just disappeared off the face of the planet. Now, Liam guesses he knows where that little boy went.

Theo stands up, his body held stiff as he looks at Liam. “I’ll go.”  
  
Liam blinks in surprise before furrowing his brows in confusion.

“What? Dude, no, sit down.” Liam waves his hands from Theo to the couch. “Just because I know your name doesn’t mean you have to leave. Sit.”  
  
There’s a tense moment of silence and then Theo slowly lowers his body back onto the couch, but he looks even tenser than before, his eyes watching Liam carefully like he thinks Liam is going to throw his dead family in his face or something. Liam gives a small reassuring smile, but that just makes Theo look even more suspicious.

Clearly, this guy has a lot to work through.  
  
“Okay so, look we already have our no-fly zone established,” Liam says brightly, probably a little too brightly but he’s trying to push away the awkwardness that has settled around them. “Friends know each other’s no-fly zones. This is friendship progress, we’re on the right track.”  
  
“No-fly zone?” Theo says slowly, that single brow rising again questioningly.  
  
Liam bobs his head and pushes himself up from the couch. “Yeah, you know. The no-no topics of conversation. This is obviously yours, so we won’t touch it.  
  
Theo has a dubious look on his face like he doesn’t quite believe Liam. “Then what’s yours?”  
  
“My height,” Liam says without much thought because he hates being called short. “And my bio dad.”  
  
“Why your bio dad?”  
  
“Ah, ah, can’t talk about it. It’s a no-fly zone, Theo, remember?” Liam tuts at him as he heads for the kitchen. “You have your topics of avoidance and I have mine.”  
  
Theo stands up too and follows after him slowly. “What are you doing?”  
  
“It’s early, dude, like super fucking early. I’m making breakfast like any nut job that’s awake at this ungodly hour,” he says as he flicks on his kitchen light. It hums as the electricity pulses through the wires and then light is flooding the room.

“It’s nearly 8,” Theo says.

Liam looks at him over his shoulder and sighs. “Yeah, and that is a disgusting hour to be awake at. 10 is a nice number, so is 12. Almost 8 though? No. Never.”

Theo rolls his eyes at him, but Liam can see the muscles near his mouth twitching in amusement, so he counts his awkward babbling as a win.  
  
“Do you like waffles? Because I make amazing waffles,” Liam says as he moves towards the fridge and tugs open the freezer. He pulls out the box of Eggos and tosses it on the counter before rummaging through all the other food he has and pulling it out. It’s just going to go to waste if they don’t eat it soon.  
  
“I’m a pancake kind of guy,” Theo offers up hesitantly.

Liam bobs his head and rifles through some cabinets pulling out flour and a baking powder and sugar.

“Alright, we have all the ingredients to make pancakes as well,” Liam says and steps back from the counter to take stock of everything he’s laid out in preparation to be cooked. “And, bacon and eggs and like twenty other things.”  
  
“Do you want help cooking?” Theo asks, and Liam is a little surprised by the offer.  
  
“Yeah, um, here,” he grabs a bowl and a whisk and places them on the counter. “You know how to make pancakes from scratch, right?”  
  
Theo nods and shrugs off his jacket, and Liam really wishes he hadn’t because Theo is wearing a short-sleeved shirt beneath it and his arms are ridiculous. Liam clears his throat, turns to the sink and quickly washes his hands before grabbing the packet of bacon and laying the strips out on a large baking pan.  
  
Liam had just finished shopping yesterday when the broadcast had played across every tv, radio and cell phone. The presidents' voice full of remorse as she told everyone the news. They were all going to die. Liam shakes the thought from his head. The world isn’t ending today, he’s not going to worry about it, he’s going to cook some bacon and waffles and make French toast and pancakes and then he and his new friend, Theo, are going to have a breakfast feast.

 Fuck the end of the world.

* * *

  
  
They made entirely too much food. Like way, way too much. It covers every inch of Liam’s dining table, plates piled high and overflowing with it all. Liam’s been trying to put away as much as he can but there’s only so much food a body can hold before it feels like it’s about to explode all over the walls.  
  
“So,” Liam says as he pushes away his plate, there’s still two pancakes and a ration of eggs on it.  “What do you do for a living, Theo?”  
  
“I write,” Theo says as he shovels another bite of eggs into his mouth. “What about you?”  
  
Liam rubs gently at his stomach, trying to sooth away the ache. “I work part-time at Glover’s Café and go to school.”  
  
Theo nods his head. “What were you studying?”  
  
“History,” Liam says and watches in disgusted horror as Theo continues eating. “Dude, where the fuck are you putting all that food?”  
  
“My digestive track, hopefully,” Theo says and takes another bite. He points his fork at Liam. “What were you going to do with your degree?”  
  
Liam sits back and shrugs, his hands still on his stomach. “I don’t know really. I wanted to travel; see Greece, France, Africa. I wanted to see it all and know what I was looking at, know the history behind it, the history that made it what it is today… I also wanted to teach, I wanted to share my love for the past with others...”  
  
Liam trails off and shrugs again a little embarrassed. He hadn’t intended to say all that, but he’s always been passionate about history.  
  
“Sounds like you had it all planned out,” Theo says, and he looks like he’s finally done stuffing his face. He trails his fork through a glob of syrup and stares at Liam.  
  
“Maybe,” Liam murmurs.  
  
He didn’t. He had many things he wanted to do but no idea of how to get there.  
  
“So, you said you write,” Liam brings up. “What type of writing do you do? Journalism?”  
  
“Books,” Theo says after a moment's hesitation. His eyes flicking over to the shelves just visible through the kitchen doorway. “Mostly crime novels and murder series.”

Liam wonders if that should be worrying for all of two seconds before he remembers who he’s talking to. The chances of Theo being a serial killer are slim. He shakes away the thought, Theo probably writes those types of novels because of what happened to his family. Life experience and all that.

Liam leans forward and tries not to wince when the angle presses on his overly full stomach. “So, wait, are you, like, a big-time author?”  
  
Theo shrugs noncommittally. “Not big time but I did well enough.”  
  
“Do I know any of your books,” Liam asks. He loves reading, the proof of it is everywhere in his home, books stacked everywhere. Most of them are history books and are for his classes, but the others range everywhere from science fiction to murder mysteries to fantasy. He’s not picky about the story, he just likes the way the words carry him away to other places when life becomes a little too stressful.  
  
“Probably not,” Theo says and stands up, he stretches, arms rising high above his head before he drops them back down to his sides. “What are we going to do with the rest of this food?”

Liam drops his eyes from Theo to the table and frowns. He hates being wasteful, but there’s really no point in doing anything with it.  
  
“Leave it there,” Liam says and stands up too. He groans and holds onto his stomach, it feels as though there’s a whole herd of animals inside it. “I ate too much.”

Theo turns around before Liam can see his face, but Liam is pretty sure that Theo wanted to laugh at that.

“So,” Liam says as he collapses onto the couch and digs around in his pocket for his cell phone. He makes a face at the time on the screen before swiping his finger over the home button and unlocking it. “We need a game plan for the day.”

Theo drops down across from him and raises his brows curiously. “A game plan?”

“Yeah, you know, a list of things to do before the world goes boom.” Liam makes an explosion motion with his hands and grins.

Theo nods his head. “Alright, like what?”

“Like,” Liam, hums, tapping at his chin with the top of his phone as he thinks. Ideas bounce around his brain. “Like, I always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower.”

Theo makes a face at him. “That doesn’t seem very feasible, all planes and boats have been shut down.”

“I know, believe me,” Liam says quietly as he thinks of his parents. “It was just an example, a bad one, but still.”

Liam clears his throat and sits upright. “So, what’s something that you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t?”

“Eggplant,” Theo says seriously.

Liam lets out a surprised laugh, but the serious look from Theo’s face doesn’t go away. “Wait, really?”

Theo’s cheeks flush a little as he nods. “Yeah. Never tried it, always wanted to. Why not do it now?”

Liam glances over at the table of food and shakes his head. He doesn’t know how Theo can be thinking about eating again anytime soon, but he won't question it. He pulls up his notes on his phone and types it in as number one. “Me too, actually,” he admits after a moment because he has always wanted to try eggplant too but has never given it a shot.

“What about you,” Theo says. “Other than the Eiffel tower.”

Liam licks his lips as he thinks. “Surfing.”

It’s Theo’s turn to laugh in surprise. “You live in California and you’ve never been surfing?”

“Worse than that actually,” Liam says and winces. He hopes he doesn’t lose all his cool Californian points with this reveal. “I’ve never even been in the ocean.”

“How?” Theo asks. “Or, more importantly, why not? Because Hills is only two hours away from a beach.”

Liam drops his eyes to his phone and taps at the back of it with his nails. He listens to the clacking for a moment before saying tightly. “I’m scared of it. There’s all kinds of bacteria and weird fish in it that swim up to you and touch you and there’s also sharks, like huge ass fucking sharks that want to eat you.”

He wrinkles his nose in distaste at just the thought and looks up at Theo again. “So, I’ve avoided it.”

Theo nods his head slowly; his voice is low and understanding when he says. “Everyone has things they’re afraid of.”

Liam feels his body loosen a little. He hadn’t even noticed himself tensing up. “Yeah,” he says appreciatively.

“Alright, we’ll go surfing,” Theo says and points at Liam’s phone. “Add it to the list, I’ll teach you.”

“You will?” Liam asks in surprise.

“Yeah,” Theo shrugs, and Liam tries not to watch the way his muscles move.

“Awesome,” Liam says and adds surfing to the list. He stares down at it for a moment, their list is only two things so far. “We have eggplant and surfing… Anything else?”

“Winchester,” Theo says quietly, his eyes focused on something over Liam’s shoulder.

“Winchester? Like, Sam and Dean?”

“No,” Theo shakes his head and turns his gaze back to Liam. He looks a little embarrassed. “The Winchester Mansion. I want to see it.”

Liam frowns. He’s never heard of it. He closes his notes and pulls up google so that he can search it. “A ghost house,” Liam says slowly. “That’s what you want to do?”

Theo says nothing.

Reading over the information provided, Liam sees that it actually does seem pretty cool. The mansion is in San Jose. He opens a new tab and types in beaches. He finds one less than an hour away from the Winchester in Santa Cruz. He opens his list again and adds it to the list.

“Alright, the Winchester Mystery House is now on the list. Anything else?” Liam grins conspiringly over at Theo. “An orgy? Psychedelic drugs? A bank robbery?”

“Already tried those,” Theo says and then pauses before adding. “Not the bank robbing, but the other two anyway.”

Liam tries very hard not to think of his new very hot friend having an orgy.

It’s hard.

And he fails.

“Yeah,” Liam coughs and looks away. “Me too.”

It’s a lie, but Theo doesn’t have to know that.

Clearing his throat, he drops his eyes back down to the sad little list of three items. He hums. “Well, I guess we can just wing it when we get to Santa Cruz.”

“We’re going to Santa Cruz?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s less than an hour away from San Jose. You said you wanted to see that mansion and I said I wanted to surf so, it works out.” Liam says and locks his phone. “Alright, now, first things first, I need to change and grab some things. Then, we can go get your eggplant and knock number one from our list.”

* * *

 

Both Liam and Theo had momentarily forgotten that everything was shut down. Including the stores. The building stands before them like a lonely giant, the sun rising slowly behind it.

“You know, I had always thought there would be more chaos at the end of the word,” Liam admits as he stares out Theo’s truck window at the store. The place is devoid of people, there’s not a living soul in sight other than Liam and Theo. “More screaming, crying, maybe a riot.”

There’s a beat of silence and then. “You sound disappointed.”

Liam shakes his head. “More surprised than disappointed. If there was a riot then this whole trip would have been infinitely more hard to accomplish.”

There’s a thoughtful hum.

“Maybe everyone’s in shock,” Theo says as he too stares out the window, his fingers drumming against the steering wheel. “Or, it’s just too much energy to wreak havoc when there’s only so little time left to live.”

Liam finds himself agreeing with Theo. A riot does seem like a lot of energy. It requires so much anger and desperation and Liam just doesn’t have that in him today. He feels passive and resigned. He supposes that’s probably how everyone feels.

Theo shuts his truck off and sighs. “Alright, let’s go shopping, Dunbar. The clock is ticking.”

The lights kick on as soon as they step inside, row by row they flicker to life lighting up the aisles and glimmering off the shiny tiled floors. It's quiet, there's no squeaking of shoes on linoleum, no rolling of wheels or beeping of items being scanned. There's no staticky call of: _"Barbara I need you on register twelve, please. Barbara to register twelve."_

“Creepy,” Liam murmurs for lack of a better word. He’s never been inside such a big store all alone before. He glances over at Theo, well, almost all alone.

Theo surveys the store before them before nodding and reaching for a shopping cart, he pulls it back and forth, listening to the irritating squeak before walking on, pushing the shopping cart along in front of him.

“Just how many eggplants are you planning to get?” Liam asks as he watches Theo walk away.

“Just the one, but I thought we could get some other things as well. Snacks for the drive to San Jose,” Theo says looking over his shoulder at Liam. “It’s an almost three-hour drive and I’m not stopping twenty times because you want to eat something on the way.”

Alright, that’s a good point, Liam thinks and then cringes when Theo's cart makes a loud screeching noise as he turns a corner. The sound seems to echo off the walls and shelves, filling up the entire store. 

“Why not just get a different shopping cart,” Liam asks scrunching up his face when the cart does it again. "That sounds like a dying dinosaur." 

“Because, this will be the last squeaky-wheeled shopping cart I’ll ever have,” Theo says, pausing to look at Liam. He shrugs and turns his attention to one of the shelves over Liam's shoulder, his cheeks flushing a little as Liam scrutinizes him. 

“Wow," Liam says and tries to fight back a grin. "You’re actually a complete softie beneath that leather jacket and irritating eyebrow quirk, aren't you?"

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Theo says airily and starts off again, feet tapping and wheel squeaking. “Come on, Dunbar, I don’t want to be here all day.”

* * *

 

Theo’s place is nice. Like, super nice. It’s a large flat on the nicer side of town. The furniture is all brand new and perfectly color coordinated. The drapes over the windows match the stitching on the sofa and the rug. The coffee table compliments the wooden floorboards and the countertops. Liam is amazed.

“Dude, you liar,” Liam says as he stares around in awe. “You said you weren’t a big-time author! If not, then how the fuck did you afford all this?”

He thinks about his crappy little one-bedroom apartment with its thrift store finds and it’s shoddy decorating, and he pouts.

“Big-time authors are like J.K Rowling and Stephen King, Anne Rice, and James Patterson. I’m not even close to their level, but…like I said: I do well enough.” Theo shrugs and Liam is maybe a bit impressed by his modesty.

Liam hums to himself as he stands in the doorway, eyes drinking everything in. “I’ve never seen your name on any books, and I read everything.”

“That’s because I use a pen name. Theo Raeken isn’t on any book nor will it ever be,” Theo says as he nudges Liam out of the way and kicks the door closed behind him. “Come on, the kitchen’s this way.”

Liam readjusts the bags in his hands so that the plastic isn’t cutting into his skin so much and follows after Theo.

 

* * *

 

Neither of them knows anything about eggplants or how to eat them.

“This article says they’re good in lasagna,” Theo reads off his phone. He looks up and around at the bags sitting haphazardly all over his counters and table. “We didn’t buy anything for lasagna though.”

“Technically we didn’t buy anything at all, we stole it,” Liam says, the heels of his shoes tapping against the cabinet beneath where he's sitting on the counter. 

“You know what I mean,” Theo says rolling his eyes. “We have six different types of cookies but nothing to make with this eggplant.”

Liam looks over at the bags of travel snacks they have, it's nearly enough to feed an army. He looks back over at Theo and suggests: "You know, we could just eat it raw."

They both turn to look at the eggplant sitting innocently next to a mountain of bags and bad decisions.

Theo shrugs and slides off the counter, his shoes thumping against the floor. “Alright, raw it is.”

He grabs up the purple vegetable, washes it off and then pulls a knife and a cutting board from one of his drawers. Liam watches as he carefully skins away the purple and then slices the meat of the vegetable into spears. Liam makes a face at it. The thing doesn’t look appetizing at all.

“Here,” Theo says and holds out the chopping board. “Take one.”

Liam eyes the spears suspiciously before taking one delicately between his fingers. He hates the way it feels already. “Together?”

Theo nods and picks up his own piece, Liam watches as he squeezes it lightly. “Together.”

They bite into it at the same time. For Liam it’s instant regret, the vegetable is oddly spongy and bitter on his tongue. He spits it back out into his cupped hand and makes a noise of disgust. “No, never. Gross.”

He looks over at Theo and sees him chewing thoughtfully. “It’s not that bad, actually.”

“It’s horrible, your tongue is broken, Theo, please go see a doctor,” Liam says dropping the bite into the trash can and rinsing his hands off in the sink. “I think we can squeeze in a visit after we visit the Winchester Mansion. They might have to chop off your tongue completely since it’s obviously super defective but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

Theo flips him off and shoves another spear into his mouth.

* * *

 

It’s been about a year since Liam’s been on any type of road trip and it’s been never since he’s been on one with a stranger. He wants to reach out and turn on the radio, but he doesn’t know if he’s allowed. If it were Mason’s car he would have already changed the station three times and then probably hooked up his own phone to the Bluetooth.

He clears his throat awkwardly and fiddles with the strap of his seat belt.

“What’s your favorite candy,” Theo asks suddenly startling Liam.

“What?” Liam asks jerking his head to the side to look at Theo. “Why?”

“I’m making conversation, Liam,” Theo says without looking at him, his eyes firmly fixed on the road. “Friends know each other’s favorite candy, right?”

“Yeah,” Liam says slowly.

He’s just surprised really, that Theo is trying to make conversation, that he’s trying to get to know Liam better. That he actually wants to be friends. Liam dips his head low and smiles to himself.

“Okay, my favorite candy is Twizzlers,” Theo says and flicks his eyes over to Liam briefly. “And yours is?”

“Reese’s,” Liam answers and then points at Theo as he really registers Theo’s answer. “Dude, how is that your favorite candy? Like, out of every type of candy to choose from you chose Twizzlers? Those things barely have any sugar in them. The whole point of candy  _is the sugar_.”

Theo scoffs. “It is not.”

Liam scoffs right back at him. “Is too.”

“Aren’t friends supposed to be nonjudgmental?” Theo asks dryly as he switches lanes in preparation to merge onto another road. “This is the most judged I’ve ever felt, friend.”

 “Not when their friends have weird preferences in candy,” Liam argues back. “First the eggplant and now this. I saw a hospital sign a few miles back if we’re lucky maybe someone is still there and can fix your broken tongue.”

“I didn’t judge you for your disgusting taste in candy,” Theo snipes shooting him a glare, but Liam doesn’t see any real heat in it. “Peanut butter? Really? Could you  _be_  anymore more American, Liam?

“What?” Liam sputters his hands waving through the air. “What does that even mean? You’re American, Theo! This is America! I like peanut butter!”

Theo looks over at him again, and Liam stares right back. He sees as Theo’s lips twitch and then Theo is laughing, loud and carefree, his head tipping back. Liam’s indignation over peanut butter fades ever so slightly as he watches the bright smile spread across Theo’s face.

“You’re very passionate about your peanut butter,” Theo says after his laughter subsides. “Let’s call a truce. You enjoy your peanut butter mush candy and I’ll enjoy my no- sugary-enough Twizzlers, deal?”

“Deal,” Liam says a little distractedly.

There’s still a soft smile stretched on Theo’s mouth, the pull of it draws in Liam’s eyes, makes it hard to look away. Liam wonders why someone so lovely has no one to share the end of the world with. It makes his chest hurt a little at the thought. Theo is a bit rough around the edges, sure, but he’s not a bad person. He’s funny and challenging and Liam wishes that he had had the chance to meet Theo before today, like really meet him and not just know about him and his family. He thinks he and Theo would have been amazing friends if given the chance.

He watches Theo from the corner of his eye, watches the tapping of his fingers against the wheel to an unknown tune.

“What?” Theo asks glancing over at him curiously.

Liam thinks maybe they could have grown to be even more.

“What’s your favorite sport,” Liam asks and when Theo says football instead of lacrosse it starts a whole new argument and Liam laughs harder than he has in a while.

 

* * *

 

The Winchester Mystery House is intimidatingly huge and beyond beautiful to look at. It stands proudly before them, the aging structure practically flawless. The red accents against the yellow paneling make it look like it belongs to some sort of Gryffindor royalty. Liam even says as much aloud.

“You’re actually a complete nerd, aren’t you?” Theo questions as he stares over at Liam in the front seat of the truck.

Liam is a little taken aback by the question. He twists his body towards Theo. His mouth popping open at the insult. “What no. I’m not a nerd, I’m —“

“Super cool,” Theo cuts him off with a bob of his head and a roll his eyes. “Right, silly me. How could I ever forget?”

Theo undoes his seat belt and plucks the keys from the engine, his movements souring Liam to undo his own seatbelt.

“Come on, everyone loves Harry Potter,” Liam says loudly as Theo climbs out of the truck and treks his way towards the large porch. Liam jumps from the truck and ambles after him, taking the stairs at a running leap.

“Don’t you like Harry Potter?” Liam asks. “You understood the reference, so doesn’t that make you just as nerdy?”

Theo ignores him in favor of trying to open the door. It’s locked.

Glancing around, Liam sees nobody, just like they had seen no one at the store and no one on the roads. No one anywhere. “Should we knock?”

“I doubt anyone is inside,” Theo says, and he rises onto his toes to peer through the colored glass window at the top of the door. He hums as he rocks back and forth on his heels before stepping away from the door.  “Wait here, Liam.”

Liam watches as Theo walks the length of the porch and then turns the corner disappearing around the side of the house. He waits a moment and then flinches when he hears the shattering of glass.

“Oh my god, we’re breaking in,” Liam says loudly and then covers his mouth.

There’s a long pause and then the front door clicks and opens up revealing Theo’s highly unimpressed face.

“You’re so loud,” Theo tells him as he holds the door open for Liam.

Liam ducks beneath his arm and steps into the house. It’s cooler inside, darker. The light all emitting a faint yellow glow that he has to blink rapidly in order to see after Theo closes the door after him.

“Sorry,” Liam hisses as he straightens up. “I didn’t know we would be breaking and entering a home.”

“Don’t act like you’re a good citizen, now.” Theo grins down at him. “You’ve already stolen from a store today, Liam. You little lawbreaker.”

“Shut up,” Liam huffs and elbows Theo in the side as he looks around, his eyes beginning to adjust.

“Wow,” he whispers a little breathlessly. The interior of the house is strange but every bit as beautiful as the outside. It’s antique furnishing creating an old-timey ambiance. No wonder Theo had wanted to see it before they died.

“Here you go, you nerdy little felon,” Theo says and holds out an informational brochure for the house.

Liam makes a face at him but takes it anyway. He’s going to read the fuck out of it and all its historical facts. Plus, there’s a map on the back and considering the size of this place he’s definitely going to need it at some point.

The map, they conclude nearly an hour later, is absolutely useless.

“I’m telling you, these rooms are switching around Theo, this place is cursed,” Liam whines as he stares petulantly down at the map in his hands.

“Yeah, or maybe you don’t know how to read a fucking map,” Theo snipes as he peers over Liam’s shoulder down at it. Liam can feel Theo’s body heat along his back, it’s nice. The house is freezing and seems to only get colder with every step they take.

Liam turns his head slightly so that he can see Theo from the corner of his eye and growls. “I know how to read a map, you asshole, I’ve been following along with it as we walked since we broke in.”

“Liar, you’ve been geeking out over all those historical facts and now we’re lost,” Theo says and straightens up taking the heat from his body with him. He runs a hand through his dark hair and sighs.

Liam tries to hold onto his own anger but it’s hard. Theo is devastatingly attractive and he’s also very right. Liam had stopped following along with the map, entirely too wrapped up in all of the interesting facts riddled over the brochure.

He folds up the map and stuffs it into his back pocket.

“Let’s just...” he motions towards the hall in front of them. “Walk and see where it takes us.”

Theo slides his hands into the pockets of his jacket and nods, his hair falling into his eyes. “Alright, lead the way, Little Felon.”

“Stop calling me that,” Liam huffs as he starts off down the hall at a quick march.

“Stop breaking laws,” Theo teases from behind him.

 

* * *

 

 

“Theo?” Liam throws himself through another door and out into a hallway. He pauses, the door swinging closed behind him. Theo’s not in here either. He sighs in frustration, his hands going up into his hair and messing it up as he thinks about what to do. “Shit.”

Liam hates this house. He just wants to be back outside where nothing is confusing or misleading or completely fucking fake. He moves across the hall and pulls open one of the many doors, but he can’t step through it at all. He glares at the brick wall on the other side of it. He knew he should have gotten Theo’s number before walking into this ridiculous house with its stupid number of rooms and doors that go nowhere.

He slams the door shut and reaches for the next one.

“Are you lost?” Someone calls out to him.

Liam startles at the voice, his body jerking to the side away from it. He whirls around with wide eyes towards the speaker and freezes.

It’s a little girl, no older than eleven or twelve. Her long dark hair is pulled up into a ponytail that she twists around her fingers as she stares at him.

“Um,” Liam says and looks around the hallway. It’s just the two of them and rows of doors. He wonders which one of them she came from and why her parents aren’t with her. “Just a little bit, I got separated from my friend. Have you seen him?”

“Yes,” she says, her voice strangely sad. “But he hasn’t seen me.”

Liam frowns in confusion because what does that even mean? The girl either doesn’t see his confusion or doesn’t care.

“This house is really big,” she says amiably, her dark eyes gazing around the hallway. “My brother always wanted to come here. He likes weird stuff like this. Mom and dad bought tickets for us all as an early birthday present for him, but we never got to come.”

“You’re here now,” Liam points out.

“Yeah,” she says softly. “And so is Teddy.”

She glances over her shoulder and sighs, her fingers releasing her hair so that it swishes back and forth. “Come on, follow me.”

She moves around him and walks down the hall. Liam watches her go for a moment before shrugging and following after her. If she knows where she’s going Liam isn’t going to question it. They walk past several doors before she stops in front of one and nods at it.

“This one.”

Liam stares at it dubiously as he remembers the doors that have two story drops. “Where does it go?”

She looks up at him and smiles. “Where you’re supposed to be.”

He opens it cautiously and sighs when he sees That’s it’s just a normal room with two other doors in it. He glances over at the girl, but she doesn’t move from the other side of the doorway.

“Thanks for being friends with Teddy,” she tells him and then the door closes, cutting off his view of her.

“That’s not creepy or anything,” Liam says as he stares at it.

“Thanks for showing me the way, little ghost child,” he adds quickly because manners are important especially when you might be speaking to a spirit because the last thing Liam wants is to be possessed by a little demon girl.

The door across the room opens and Liam jerks around in shock just in time to see Theo storm in through it. Theo’s eyes widen and then narrow into slits, his fingers curled into fists at his sides.  “Dunbar, where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling your name for twenty minutes.”

“I...” Liam glances over at the door he just came through. “I got lost.”

Theo crosses his arms over his chest, his muscles bulging through his jacket. “Yeah, no shit. Ten more minutes and I was going to go to the beach by myself.”

“What?” Liam says indignantly. “No, you weren’t! Friends don’t leave friends behind in creepy haunted houses Theo!”

“It’s not haunted, Liam,” Theo says with a roll of his eyes.

“You don’t believe in ghosts?”

Theo gives him a weird look and rocks back onto his heels. “No, I’m an atheist. Why?”

Liam shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it. How do we get out of here?”

Theo points at the door to his right. “There are stairs through there. Ones that actually take you down and not into a wall or lead you off the side of the house to die.”

“God, this house is weird,” Liam mumbles.

“It is.” Theo reaches out and gently grasps Liam’s wrist. “Come on, don’t get lost this time. Life’s too short to spend it looking for your dumb ass.”

Liam wants to argue but Theo has a very valid point and his hand is warm where it’s wrapped around Liam’s skin, so he lets it go. “Yeah.”

 

 

* * *

 

Liam’s seen a beach before, he’s seen many beaches actually, it’s nearly impossible to live in California and not have glimpsed the ocean in person at least once in your lifetime. He’s just never seen one with the intention of stepping into it.

“I think I’ve changed my mind,” he says worriedly as he watches the waves wash up onto shore and then steadily draw back out. They leave behind tangles of seaweed and roots and even a tiny hermit crab that scuttles surprisingly fast across the wet sand. “If we leave now we can probably find something else to do before it’s too late.”

“Liam, we didn’t drive all the way here just for you to chicken out before putting even a toe in the water,” Theo says with a surprising amount of patience. “You’re going to get in and you’re going to like it and I’m going to teach you how to surf.”

Liam shakes his head. “No, thanks.”

Theo sighs, sticks his board in the sand and then steals away Liam’s. He sticks Liam’s board into the sand next to his before crouching down onto his knees beside Liam. His warm hands brushing against the skin of Liam’s ankle as he undoes the strap connecting Liam to his board. Liam has to avert his eyes, lifting them up to the clear blue sky. He swallows thickly. Theo on his knees in front of him, all smooth bare skin and dark green eyes, is not a good view for Liam’s heart.

When Theo stands back up he’s right in front of Liam, their chests nearly bumping into each other with every breath.

“Okay,” Theo says decisively and grabs Liam’s hand, their fingers tangling together. “Come on, Little Felon.”

Theo takes a step back towards the water and Liam panics when he realizes what Theo is doing. “Theo! Wait, no!”

“Liam,” Theo says calmly and grabs his other hand. He squeezes them reassuringly. “It’s okay, stop panicking. We’re just going to dip our feet in. The only things that are going to be touching you are the water and me.”

“That’s all?” Liam asks worriedly as he lets Theo pull him towards the shoreline. “Promise?”

“Promise,” Theo tells him with a soft smile that makes Liam’s heart stutter in his chest.

Liam nods.

_Okay._

_He can do this._

_He can put his feet in the water._

They pause just before the water touches them and Theo waits for the waves to draw back before pulling Liam even closer.

“Stand right here,” Theo says and then squeezes his hand again. “Don’t look at the water.”

Liam lifts his eyes away from the water and stares up into the bright green of Theo’s eyes. They’re pretty, he thinks. Especially, with the light of the sun reflecting in them, making the flecks of gold burn bright. Theo gives him a tiny smile and Liam can’t stop himself from smiling back.

A cold wetness washes across his feet licking at his ankles briefly and Liam realizes with a start that he’s standing in the ocean. He’s actually in it. He looks down in amazement and then back up at Theo and grins excitedly.

“See, not so bad is it?” Theo asks softly, his hands tightening on Liam’s before letting go.

“I’m in the ocean.” Liam whispers, awe and elation rocking through him. His fingers curl at his sides to keep him from reaching for Theo again.

“You are. Want to go deeper?” Theo asks and takes a step back, the water splashes around him with every footfall.

Liam looks down at the water as it washes away again, leaving him standing in dark wet sand. He looks up with determination and moves forward, each step taking him deeper and deeper into the water. It’s cold, the temperature making his skin break out in goosebumps as the water laps at his knees. The sand slides beneath his feet, shifting under his weight. It freaks him out, but he keeps going, making a beeline for where Theo is waiting in waist length water.

Theo nudges him softly on the shoulder with an open palm when he finally makes it to him. “Look at you, Dunbar. You’re swimming in the ocean.”

A little swell of pride rises in Liam. He stares out at the water, the sun glints off the wavy surface. There could be all kinds of weird things swimming alongside him, but he doesn’t care. Not anymore, not with Theo right beside him. He feels a little invincible.

“Yeah, I am,” Liam says.

“Ready to try the boards now?” Theo asks.

Liam turns back to the shore where their boards wait for them. He knows they’ll have to go out deeper to surf and that thought scares him to the core, but he wants to try. It’s the only chance he has.

“Let’s do it.”

 

* * *

 

Theo’s a patient teacher, his hands-on Liam’s hips helping to show him how to stand, how to move. He demonstrates how to go from laying flat on the board to standing in one smooth motion and then watches Liam try it over and over, his low voice pointing out errors and his hands gently fixing them.

“Good, that was good,” Theo says after what feels like the thirtieth try. He grins at Liam and high fives him when Liam lifts his hand for one excitedly.

“Alright, you ready to get back into the water,” Theo asks as he swoops down and picks his board up from the sand.

Liam looks down at the board beneath his feet. They’d been practicing on dry land for nearly an hour now and just that was hard. He can’t even imagine how difficult it’s going to be in the actual water.

* * *

 

Surfing in the actual water is a literal nightmare.

Liam’s long since lost count of how many times he’s fallen off his board. He just knows that it’s a lot.

“Come on,” Theo says as he paddles towards him. “Let’s try one more time. I know you can do it, Liam. Don’t give up yet.”

The board glides over the water and Liam feels a little like he’s flying, the cool ocean spray mists over him, the water rushing by beneath him. He feels incredible and then he falls, his board turning too far to the right and the wave rolls right over him, tumbling him down into the chilly ocean. When he surfaces Theo is right there beside him, a proud smile on his face and his eye glittering with mirth.

“You did it,” he says and holds out his hand to help Liam slide back onto his board. “You surfed, Liam.”

Liam sucks in a deep breath and pushes himself up so that he’s sitting atop his surfboard. “That was amazing.”

“Wanna go again?”

Water drips from his hair and slides down his back like trailing fingers. Liam shakes his head. “No, I’m good, once was more than enough.”

“It’s exhausting, isn’t it,” Theo laughs and paddles closer so that their boards are side by side. “It takes a lot of muscles to stand on the board and guide it over the waves.”

“Yeah,” Liam snorts and rubs his hand over his stomach, the muscles Theo’s talking about all ache. “I know, I can feel them.”

Theo’s eyes drop to Liam’s stomach, and Liam watches as they follow the path of his fingers before jerking away.

“Look,” Theo says suddenly.

Liam follows his gaze to a cliff in the distance and his heart drops because he knows exactly what Theo is about to say as the other man turns to him with a dubious smirk and gleaming eyes.

“We should jump.”

“No,” Liam tells him immediately, his head shaking avidly back and forth. “No way, not happening.”

Liam leans down and begins to paddle towards shore. He needs to get away from Theo before he somehow smooth talks Liam into doing something stupid.

“What are—Liam, where are you going?”

“Away,” Liam calls over his shoulder. “That cliff is too fucking high, and you are obviously crazy, I’m going back to the shore where it’s safe and crazy person free.”

It takes Liam a moment to realizes that even though he’s paddling he’s not getting any farther away from Theo. Liam drops his eyes to the back of his board and glowers at the hand clutching at it.

“What are you so afraid of Liam? Dying?” Theo teases.

He tries to pull his eyes away from Theo but it’s hard. Theo looks ridiculous right now, with his wet, dark hair and the droplets of water dripping down his face and sliding into his eyelashes so that they clump together. Liam has the urge to reach out and touch Theo, to feel that smooth wet skin beneath his fingertips and see the surprise in those too pretty green eyes. Liam grits his teeth, sits up straighter, and crosses his arms over his chest to keep himself from doing anything stupid.

“No,” Liam says a little gruffer than he had intended.

“Then,” Theo says lowly and leans in closer, that teasing smirk curling up into a challenging smile. “Let’s go jump.”

Liam really should have paddled away faster.

* * *

 

The cliff looks much, much higher when Liam is standing on it. His body held stiff a few feet from the ledge as he watches Theo peer down at the water.

“Are we seriously going to jump,” Liam finds himself asking, his voice coming out a little meek.

Theo looks back at him, his eyes flickering over Liam’s face and taking in his posture, the hunch of his shoulders the fear in his eyes.

Theo’s expression goes soft and he shakes his head. “No, we’re not.”

A sigh of relief barely slips past Liam’s lips then Theo takes another step to the edge. Liam’s eyes widen in horror, his voice is high pitched and horrified. “Wait, what are you doing?”

Shooting him a look of confusion Theo says. “I’m jumping.”

“I thought you said we weren’t!”

Theo nods. “Yeah, _we’re_ not,” he points between the two of them and then thumps on his chest. _“I_ am. You should hurry back down, I’ll meet you back at our spot on the beach, okay?”

Theo moves towards the edge again, one foot lifting in preparation to walk right off the ledge, and Liam’s heart lurches at the sight. “Wait, no.”

“What?”

Liam shuffles his feet slowly, bringing himself closer and closer to the edge where Theo is standing. He reaches out and grips tightly to Theo’s arm because it looks like the asshole is going to jump at any second and Liam isn’t ready yet. “I’ll jump too, just, wait a moment.”

He doesn’t want to be left up here alone.

“Alright,” Theo sticks his foot back on the ground and dips his head in understanding, so Liam lets him go. “Ready when you are, Little Felon.”

 _Never_ , Liam instantly thinks. Theo can call him Little Felon all he wants as long as he’s okay with standing on this cliff until that giant ass rock comes and kills them.

He whines as he stares down at the water. It’s so far away from where he’s standing. Something warm twines through his fingers and Liam jerks in surprise. His feet tangling together and sending him stumbling towards the edge. He lets out a horrified squeak but he doesn’t fall.

Liam is jerked back against a solid chest, his eyes clenched shut and his heart beating like a team of galloping horses.

“Fuck, Liam,” Theo exhales, his breath sliding over Liam’s cheek where his chin is hooked over Liam’s shoulder. “You dumbass why did you do that? You scared the fuck out of me.”

Liam wants to laugh. He scared Theo? Theo scared him! He hadn’t expected the other man to reach for his hand.

“I was trying to help,” Theo grits out and Liam realizes that he had said that aloud.

There’s a heart beating against his back, the pace wild. Arms are wrapped low around his stomach holding him firmly in place against Theo’s chest, Theo is a line of warmth pressed to his skin. Liam licks his lips and slowly opens his eyes, his head tilting to the side to see Theo’s profile. His nose brushes along Theo’s cheek softly.

“I… I know,” Liam says because he does know that Theo was just trying to be reassuring but Liam had been too wrapped up in fear so when something touched him he panicked. “Sorry for scaring you.”

Theo tilts his head slightly, his skin dragging along Liam’s. His hands travel across Liam’s stomach, his thumb brushing the trail of hair beneath Liam’s belly button briefly before they drop back to Theo’s sides.

“I’m sorry too,” he murmurs and steps to the side.

Liam flushes, his heart thumping a beat too hard before settling into its normal pace. He clears his throat and turns his body back to the water. His mind runs rampant with inappropriate thoughts about Theo and the feeling of his hands on Liam’s skin.

“If I try to grab your hand again are you going to throw yourself over the cliff,” Theo asks and holds his hand out hesitantly.

Shaking his head Liam reaches out and grasps Theo’s hand in his own.

 “Count of three?” Liam asks otherwise he’ll never find the courage to jump.

“One.” Theo’s fingers tighten around his own.

“Two.” They step up to the very edge, their toes peeking over the ledge down at the water.

“Three.”

They jump together. Screams somewhere between terror and delight rip themselves from their mouths as the water races up to greet them.

They don’t let each other go until they’re plunged into the endless blue and kicking their way up to the surface.

* * *

 

“I hate you that was awful,” Liam gasps as he drops down onto the warm sand.

“Liar, you enjoyed yourself,” Theo says and lays beside him, arms stretched out and eyes closing against the glare of the sun.

Liam pokes him roughly in the side just to watch the annoyance flicker across his peaceful face.

The sand is soft beneath him, warm like blankets pulled fresh from the dryer. He closes his eyes like Theo and enjoys it. His breathing slow and calm, his heart rate steady. It feels like nothing could go wrong right now, like this little piece of time has been carved out just for them, protected and eternal. Liam doesn’t ever want to move.

There’s a familiar buzzing sound from jut to his left where his clothes and all their beach items sit. He frowns and squints over at it in confusion before he realizes that it’s his cell phone. He reaches for his jeans and fishes his cell out of one of the pockets. Mason’s name flashes on his screen and Liam curses because he’d forgotten to tell his best friend what he was doing today.

He hits accept and waits while the screen goes black and then he’s looking at Mason.

“Dude why aren’t you answering your door,” Mason asks but then pauses, his face getting even closer to the screen, his dark eyes squinting. “Wait, are you outside? Is that sand? Liam are you on a beach right now?”

“Hey, Mase.” Liam greets with a lazy smile. “Yeah, look. I’m in Santa Cruz.”

He flips the camera around for a moment to show Mason the ocean and then flips it around to face him again. “I went swimming in the actual ocean and Theo taught me how to surf!”

“You actually got in the water? Dude, that’s awesome!” Mason says ecstatically. “I’m so proud of you man!”

Corey pops up in the picture behind Mason, his chin hooking over his boyfriends’ shoulder. Liam can see that they’re standing in the hall of his apartment building. “Who the hell is Theo? And, how did he get you to go into the water?”

“Oh, right. Guys, this is Theo,” Liam turns the camera towards where Theo is still lounging. He lazily lifts one hand in greeting but says nothing. “He’s my end of the world person.”

Corey snickers in the background. “That ad actually worked?”

“Ad? What ad?” Mason asks turning to Corey, his eyes narrowing.

“When you went to the bathroom last night, Liam and I talked about having people to spend the end of the world with. We thought it would be smart to put out an ad. I didn’t think Liam actually managed to post it and I didn’t anyone would show up if he did, but...”

Corey whistles. “Someone definitely showed up. Liam, you lucky little shit.”

Liam flushes, his eyes flickering over to where Theo is still lounging. He knows Theo can hear everything they’re saying but he doesn’t even twitch.

Mason sighs. “We could have been your end of the world people, Liam. You didn’t have to put an ad out.”

The look Mason gives him makes him feel guilty. “I know, Mase, but you should get to spend your last moments with Corey.”

Mason looks a little devastated. “I love you, Liam, thanks for being my best friend.

Liam closes his eyes. They feel warm. He opens them and gives Mason a wavering smile. “I love you too Mason, thanks for being my brother.”

Mason curses, his eyes filling up with tears. “Let’s be brothers for real next time okay?”

Liam nods his head. “Yeah, yeah we will.”

“I’m glad you’re not alone, you deserve the best,” Mason says thickly, trying not to cry. “Hey, Theo!”

Theo scoots closer, his head knocking gently into Liam’s so that he can be in the frame.

“Don’t let him be sad okay?” Mason asks.

“He’s in good hands,” Theo says seriously. “I promise.”

Liam can hear Corey’s whisper of “Jesus his voice.” In the background and then the subtle _oof_ as Mason elbows him.

“Thank you.”

Theo nods his head, but he doesn’t say anything else and he doesn’t move away again, he stays where he is, his body pressed against Liam’s. It’s comforting.

“Corey,” Liam says and waits for Corey to lean back into the frame. “I love you too man, thanks for being an amazing friend and a good boyfriend to Mason.”

“Awe Liam don’t make me cry,” Corey says, his brown eyes going a little shiny. “I love you too.”

He clears his throat. “So, are you guys going to go out with a bang?” Corey waggles his brows. “Because we are.”

Theo chuckles beside him, and Liam full on blushes as Theo wraps an arm over his waist and pulls him in closer. “Wouldn’t you like to know,” he tells Corey just before Liam hangs up.

They continue to lay there like that for several long moments before Theo’s pulls away. “You okay?”

Liam nods. “Yeah, it just… that made it seem more real, you know, the whole end of the world thing that’s happening.

Theo’s expression is understanding when he says. “Yeah.”

There’s a beat of awkward silence and then Theo is pushing himself up to his feet. “Alright, come on, I promised your friend I wouldn’t let you mope.”

Liam makes an offended sound at him. “I heard no such thing and I was there for the entire conversation.”

“It was subtext, very subtle, you missed it,” Theo says superiorly as he rummages through their things.

“What are you doing?” Liam asks curiously as Theo pulls things out from their bags.

“I’m looking for something to…” he trails off and then lets out aloud. “Ha, found some.”

He’s holding up yellow plastic cups, he waggles them at Liam and then marches closer towards the water. “Come on, Dunbar.”

Liam pushes himself up from the ground slowly and follows. “What are you doing? Please tell me you don’t plan on drinking ocean water because end of the world or not, some ideas are actually stupid.”

Theo laughs. “I’m not drinking ocean water,” he drops down onto his knees and scoops up sand into one of the cups. “I promised your best friend that I would keep you from being sad.”

“So?”

“So,” Theo says loudly and empties the cup onto the ground, it leaves a perfect cup-shaped mound of sand behind. “My little felon, we are going to build a sand castle.”

Liam bursts out into laughter. “You can’t be serious.”

“As serious as the end of the world,” Theo tells him and throws him one of the other yellow cups.

Liam catches it, the plastic fumbling in hands. Liam stares at Theo for a long moment. He doesn’t think the end of the world is as serious as it should be right now, but he’s, oddly enough, fine with it.

* * *

 

“What exactly are you building over there?” Theo asks. “It looks nothing like a castle.”

“I’m building streets,” Liam says distractedly. He’s trying to firm the walls erecting, but one of them keeps crumbling down no matter how much he tries to keep it standing. “Like in Mykonos.”

“In what?” Theo sounds confused, the way most people are when Liam brings up anything about Greece.

“It’s a city in Greece will all these winding roads, the ancient Greeks used them to confuse invaders.”

There’s a low thoughtful noise that makes Liam look up. He sees Theo staring at him over their weird little fortress of sand, his head tilted to the side in contemplation.

“What?” Liam asks a tad defensively. He wonders if Theo is going to call him a nerdy felon again.

“Nothing, I’m just impressed,” Theo says, lifting a single shoulder and dropping it. “You know a lot, don’t you?”

“About pointless history facts, yeah,” Liam says with a small self-depreciating laugh, his eyes dropping back down to his crumbling walls.

“It’s not pointless if you love it,” Theo murmurs.

Liam glances up at him through his lashes, his cheeks flushing. He smiles. “Look at you being all cool and philosophical.”

Theo gives a short shrug. “I’m a writer, it’s what we do.”

“Oh?” Liam says teasingly. “I thought writers just complained about writing.”

Theo scoffs, but there’s no heat in the sound. He flicks his fingers at Liam, sand sprinkling over the fortress at him. “Don’t mock our pain, Dunbar. Writing is hard.”

“Forgive me, I knew naught of your struggle,” Liam says cupping a handful of wet sand and throwing it at Theo’s bare chest. It smacks loudly.

Together they watch as the clump of sand slides down Theo’s body and falls to the ground, there are grains of dark sand left behind, coating the trail of hair beneath Theo’s belly button.

“Did you really just do that?” Theo asks as though he doesn’t quite believe it.

“I did, and I regret nothing,” Liam says, scooping up another handful of sand and throwing again. It smacks Theo in the same place and Theo lets out a little growl.

“Oh, it is on, Liam,” Theo threatens leaning down and gathering wet sand into both hands.

“Fuck,” Liam says at the evil gleam in Theo’s eyes.

He turns tail and runs, his body moving slowly through the sand. It’s almost like running in a dream, his movements seeming to carry him at a snail’s pace. Liam supposes he’s just lucky he hasn’t tripped over his own two feet yet.

A clump of sand smacks him in the back of his left thigh, it makes him stumble and for one horrifying second, he thinks he’s going down. He manages to straighten himself up though and keeps running, a triumphant laugh breaking free from his lips. He zigzags his way around the beach, Theo hot on his heels, wet sand flying over his head.

“You can’t run forever, Liam,” Theo yells.

“Watch me, asshole,” Liam yells back as he leans down and scoops a handful of sand up. He throws it over his shoulder and hoots when there’s a loud smack sound followed by a plethora of curses.

Liam glances over his shoulder and gets a face full of sand. The hit takes him by surprise, his feet tangling and sending him crashing to the ground.

Theo laughs from behind him as Liam spits out the gritty saliva in his mouth. “You dick,” Liam coughs.

“Me? You started this, Dunbar,” Theo says.

Liam turns to face him; his entire front is covered in sand. It sends Theo into another fit of laughter.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Liam grumbles. He pats at himself, sand falling like snow down to the earth with each hit.

Theo’s laughter trails off. “Here, I’ll help,” Theo says and moves closer.

Liam is surprised at the offer.

“Thank—” Liam starts but ends with a squeak of surprise as Theo bends down and hoists Liam into the air. “Oh my god! What are you doing?”

“I’m helping,” Theo says again as he carries Liam into the ocean and drops him.

Liam lets out a startled yelp as the cool ocean water washes over his sun-heated skin. He bursts up to his feet and glowers at Theo’s overly amused face.

“See,” Theo says and points at him smugly. “All clean. You’re welcome.”

“I didn’t ask for your help, you dick, I could have gotten it off myself,” Liam huffs and scrubs at the little remaining grains that stick to his stomach and chest.

“Well, that’s the beauty of friendship, Liam,” Theo says in a mockingly sage voice. “You don’t always have to ask for help. Your friends just give it to you.”

Liam pauses, his hands falling still on his sides. He looks up at Theo’s entirely too innocent looking expression and makes a face at him. “You are so full of shit,” Liam laughs incredulously.

Theo rocks back onto his heels and shrugs, he doesn’t look the least bit chagrined. “I thought it sounded cool.”

“Of course, you did,” Liam snorts and goes back to brushing himself off.

Theo nods at Liam. “You have some sand on your cheek still.”

“I do?” Liam rubs as his face, he can feel the grains of sand rubbing into his skin. “Am I getting it?”

Theo shakes his head. “No, here, I’ll…”

Theo’s hand is warm as it brushes across Liam’s cheek, running along the skin under his eye and down to the corner of his mouth, slow and steady. Liam can feel the tiny grains of sand falling away with each gentle caress. Theo’s thumb brushes beneath Liam’s bottom lip and Liam’s mouth parts on its own accord, his breath stopping in his lungs.

“There,” Theo says, but his hand doesn’t move away.

Liam’s throat clicks as words try to find their way out. He licks his lips and regrets it, sand coating his tongue.

“You just rubbed it in more, didn’t you?” Liam asks trying to ease the sudden tension between them.

Theo huffs out a breath, his hand falling from Liam’s face and moving up into his own hair where he tugs at the strands. “Yeah, you caught me.”

Liam laughs, but it comes out sounding a little strangled. He turns around, holds his breath and dips beneath the waves under the guise of cleaning himself more. His face feels entirely too warm even under the water.

 

* * *

 

They walk along the wharf, their steps in tandem, shoulders brushing. Liam’s been here many times before when he was younger, with his family and his friends. It’s strange seeing such a usually lively place so devoid of color and sound. There are no screams of delight as people zoom past on rollercoasters, no music blaring from speakers or peals of laughter. There’s no blinking lights or flashing signs, or cigarette cherry’s burning.

There’s just Liam and Theo and an empty stretch of wooden beneath their feet surrounded by shadowy buildings and giant silhouettes.

“I loved coming here when I was little, it’s odd seeing it like this,” Theo says voicing Liam’s thoughts perfectly. “The world hasn’t ended yet but everything else has just stopped.”

“Maybe not everything.” Liam points at a tiny patch of light just up ahead. The soft yellow glow shines like a beacon of hope. “Theo, look!”

Theo looks surprised, his steps halting as they peer through the darkness.

“Come on, Raeken, let’s go check it out.” Liam grabs his wrist and drags him along down the wharf.

The source of light is a small souvenir shop tucked away between the Ferris wheel and a desolate candy store. There’s a flickering fluorescent sign attached to the roof of the shop that washes their skin in shades of blue. They can see a young woman moving around inside the shop, the sound of music floating on the air as she bobs her head to the beat.

“Are we going to stare through the window like creeps or are we going to go inside?” Theo asks in a hushed voice like he’s worried someone might overhear them in this land of near isolation.

“Do you think it’s okay to go in?” Liam asks worriedly. He doesn’t want to startle the young woman or cause her any problems.

“It’s a shop, Liam,” Theo points out. “Plus the sign on the door says it’s open.”

Liam rolls his eyes and elbows Theo in the side just for the hell of it. “Shut up you know it all.”

Theo grunts at the hit and pinches Liam roughly on the arm. Liam glares over at him, one hand reaching out to retaliate but Theo moves away too quickly. Liam watches as Theo pulls open the shop door, the bell above it jingling cheerily, and then Theo is inside the shop and being welcomed by the young woman.

“Damn it, Theo,” Liam curses and follows after him not wanting to be left alone outside.

The bell jingles again and the woman looks surprised. “Welcome to Manny’s Menagerie.”

Liam freezes just inside the doorway. “Um, thanks,” he says awkwardly.

Manny smiles at him warmly and gestures towards the back of the store. “Your friend went that way. Let me know if you need help with anything,” she tells him before turning back to her phone and typing.

Liam bobs his head even though she’s no longer looking at him and hurries past her counter towards the back of the store where he can see Theo standing.

Theo has a bright purple hat perched atop his head, his expression thoughtful as he stares into a large mirror next to the display.

Liam comes to a halt beside him, he can see his own confusion reflected back at him. “What are you doing?” He asks. “And why are you wearing that?”

“I was thinking, we’re not going out with a bang,”—Liam flushes at the words. –“But we can go out in style.”

“What?” Liam asks incredulously a surprised laugh falling from his mouth. “This is what you consider stylish?”

Liam reaches up to tap at the bill of Theo’s ugly hat. “I don’t think purple is really your color, Theo.”

It’s a lie really, Liam thinks that Theo could probably pull off any color, even orange if he really wanted to but Liam’s not going to tell Theo that.

“No?” Theo looks a little disappointed, his eyes darting over to Liam in the mirror. “What do you think my color is then?”

Liam shrugs, his own eyes traveling away from the mirror to the display rack filled with colorful hats. A pale pink one catches his eye, so he grabs it without much thought.

“Here, try this one,” Liam tells him as he steals away the hat atop Theo’s head and replaces it with the pink one. He centers it carefully and grins with satisfaction. “Perfect.”

Theo’s cheeks are bright red, the color making the green of his eyes stand out even more. Liam frowns, his fingers sliding down from the bill of the hat to Theo’s face where he brushes his fingers over the highs of Theo’s cheeks.

“I think you got burned,” Liam murmurs tracing the red. “I knew we should have put on sunscreen.”

Theo’s fingers close around his wrist, and Liam’s fingers pause in their touching. “I’m fine, Liam.”

“Okay.”

Theo clears his throat loudly and drops his hand from Liam’s wrist. He snatches up a hat from the rack and shoves it onto Liam’s head. “There, now we match.”

Liam lifts his gaze to the pale pink bill of the hat on his own head and snorts. “We’re the coolest kids at the end of the world.”

Theo grins over at him. “Damn right we are.”

 

* * *

 

Liam feels like a total dork as they exit Manny’s shop. He and Theo are wearing matching, obnoxiously green shirts that boldly proclaim: _I Survived Santa Cruz._ The shirts clash horribly with the pink hats—and with life in general—but according to Theo, they were an absolute must-have. The dork had found them and laughed so hard he actually cried. Theo had said it was funny because Santa Cruz is where they would be meeting their end. Liam learned in that moment that Theo had a pretty morbid sense of humor, but Liam can’t really blame the guy.

The sky is darker now, the stars above them seemingly brighter. Liam hasn’t been able to see so many stars in years, though, he’s not sure he ever really looked all that hard before now. The end of the world really brings a sense of appreciation for the little things.

They’re heading back towards the beach; the wharf having lost all of their interest. It’s just not the same without hordes of too loud people and clacking rides.

“Here,” Theo says as they step back onto the soft sand of the beach. He holds out a little box for Liam to take, his eyes firmly fixed on anything that’s not Liam.

Liam takes it slowly, cautiously. “What is it?”

“Just open it,” Theo tells him.

Liam pulls his bottom lip between his teeth and carefully undoes the cardboard of the box. There’s a pretty keychain nestled inside of the Eiffel tower.

“I know it’s not how you wanted to see the Eiffel tower but…” Theo trails off.

Liam looks up at him in surprise.

“Now you can check it off the list.”

Liam’s eyes drop back down to the keychain, he traces his fingers over the cool metal and smiles softly. “Thank you, Theo.”

“You’re welcome, little felon,” Theo says teasingly, and Liam laughs at the nickname.

Liam takes the keychain out of the box and holds it. He doesn’t have any keys to hook it to, he’d left both his car keys and his house keys at home. There just wasn’t any reason to bring them along. Now, he kind of wishes that he had.

 “My parents are stuck in France right now,” he finds himself telling Theo.

“Oh?”

“They’re on their first honeymoon, they never had the chance or time to take it before,” Liam says and closes his fingers around the keychain, the metal digs into his palm. “When they found out about asteroid they tried to get a plane back but...”

He trails off.

There’s a beat of silence and then Theo says. “Finding out the world is ending must have been a real downer for a honeymoon.”

Liam flicks his eyes over towards Theo and quirks a half smile at him. “Yeah, just a bit.”

Theo gives him a little half smile back before his face gets serious. “I’m sorry they’re so far away, Liam.”

After a moment he adds. “You should call them.”

“It’s late,” Liam says and drops down onto a bench near them.

“They’re your parents, Liam. I don’t think they’ll mind hearing from you this late when the world is about to end.”

Liam knows that; he does. It’s just, saying goodbye to Mason had been painful; saying goodbye to his parents might actually kill him. Liam does want to see his mother’s face again. Just one last time. He wants to thank her for everything she’s ever done for him, his father too. He also doesn’t ever want to acknowledge that this is the last time for everything.

Liam swallows thickly, his fingers brushing over the phone in his pocket. “Okay.”

He pulls it out and unlocks it, his finger swiping through the list of contacts until he finds her. He hits the button to FaceTime her and waits.

She answers after the third ring, her blonde hair pulled back into a messy bun and her pale blue eyes ringed red from tears.

“Liam,” she says thickly. He wonders how long she’s been crying. “Hey, sweetheart.”

“Hey, mom,” Liam’s voice cracks and his moms face crumbles at the sound.

She starts apologizing instantly. “I’m so sorry Liam, I’m so, so sorry. I tried baby, I tried everything to get home to you there just... there’s just no way and now...”

And now it’s too late, Liam’s mind supplies for him. He shakes his head, he doesn’t know if it’s at her or if it’s to clear away his maudlin thoughts. Either one works though.

“It’s okay, mom,” he says as reassuringly as he can manage when his heart is shattering into pieces. “You don’t have to apologize.”

She sniffles, her nose bright red from rubbing at it. Her pale eyes blink rapidly, trying to erase the glossy sheen from them so that she can see clearly. “Where are you? It’s dark. Are you home alone?”

“No, I’m outside, at the beach actually,” Liam says. “I took a trip to Santa Cruz, I wanted to swim in the ocean.”

His mother squints at him, her face scrunching up like she’s fighting off her emotions. “That’s so great Liam, did you have fun?”

“Yeah, I swam and surfed, and I even jumped off a cliff into the water,” he says triumphantly and ignores the little noise of amusement that comes from Theo when he says. “The ocean isn’t so bad.”

“Are you with Mason and Corey,” his mother asks inquisitively. “You’re not alone are you?”

He can see the panic in her eyes at the question so he’s quick to inform her that he’s not on his own. He shakes his head hurriedly. “No, no, I’m not alone, mom.”

“I’m,” he says slowly trying to figure out an explanation for Theo that isn’t he’s a guy from Craigslist. “I’m with Theo, he’s—he’s an old friend of mine.”

Theo drops down onto the bench beside him and leans in close, the bill of his hat bumping into Liam’s knocking it askew atop his head. Theo smiles and reaches up with one hand to straighten their hats as he speaks. “Hello ma’am, nice to meet you.”

“Hello,” his mother says back blinking in surprise.

Liam watches as she takes in their matching hats and shirts, her thin brows furrowing in thought. He wants to tell her it’s not what she’s thinking, but that would tip Theo off and that would be embarrassing. Theo would definitely tease him until the end of the world over it.

His mother’s face smoothes out and she nods at them. “Nice outfits, you two look cute.”

Liam dips his head forward and tries to fight off a blush when his mother’s eyes linger a moment too long on Theo and the hats.

“Theo said we should go out in style,” Liam says for lack of anything else to say that’s not incriminating or a reminder of their impending doom.

“Did he?” His mother asks, and she arches a brow at him. “I don’t think pink and green are all that stylish together.”

“Mom, you just said we look cute,” Liam protests, lips pushing out into a pout.

She nods her head in assent, her blonde bun bobbing atop her head. “Yeah, but in a really unfortunate fashion disaster type of way, sweetie.”

She doesn’t look the least bit apologetic when she says it. In fact, she even gives a little shrug.

Theo snorts and ducks out of the frame, his head dipping low as he laughs. Liam glares at him, and Theo tries to cover the laughter with the most unbelievable coughing fit Liam has ever heard.

What a traitor. He shouldn’t be laughing. They’re wearing the same exact thing.

“Liam,” his mother calls softly garnering his attention once more.

Liam turns back to the phone and his heart clenches at his mother’s expression. She looks like breaking glass; lovely and fragile and impossible to hold together.

“I love you, Liam, so, so, much. I wish we could be there with you.”

“Me too mom, I love you,” Liam tells her trying not to cry. He doesn’t want his mother to worry about him.

The phone shakes and then his father is there, his face filling up the screen. Liam can hear the sound of his mother’s ragged breathing as she sobs off-screen. It makes his chest hurt, his fingers wrap around the Eiffel Tower key chain tightly, he wishes it could take him to her.

“Hey kiddo,” his father says looking every bit as heartbroken as Liam feels.

“Dad,” Liam croaks out.

Something warm lands on his thigh and squeezes. He glances down and sees Theo’s hand there, ground him, reassuring him. It’s warm and heavy and Liam is grateful for it.

Liam looks up again and sucks in a breath. His voice is quiet and sincere as he looks at his father and says. “Thank you.”

“What for, son?”  his father asks, head tilting to the side in confusion.

“For...for being such an amazing father to me,” Liam tells him, his voice trembling with the effort not to cry. He needs to get these words out because it’s his only chance. “For loving my mother so much and joining our broken little family. Just... dad... thank you for everything.”

“Thank you,” his father chokes out, his brown eyes shiny with tears, they clump his lashes together and roll down his cheeks. “Thank you for being my son.”

There’s a sniffle and then Liam can see both his parents faces, they’re closely mushed together. Both of them tear-stained and sad-eyed. His mother clears her throat and says Theo’s name. It’s eerily reminiscent of the phone call with Mason as Theo leans in close again.

Theo looks a little nervous as he asks. “Yes, ma’am?”

“I wanted to thank you,” she says voice gentle. “For being there with Liam when we can’t. Thank you for not letting him be alone.”

“If anyone should be thanked it’s Liam,” Theo tells her softly. “Otherwise, I would have spent this last day alone.”

“Then I’m glad you have each other,” his father says and his mother nods. Tears running down her cheeks.

Liam glances over at Theo and then back at his parents. “Me too.”

“I...,” Liam trails off and then sucks in a decisive breath. “I’ll call you tomorrow mom.”

She looks surprised and confused for a moment. There is no tomorrow, not for any of them. Her expression clears a second later and she sits up a little straighter, she gives him a firm nod. “You better young man, I want to hear all about how beautiful Santa Cruz is.”

Liam nods. “Bye, mom, dad. Love you.”

“Goodbye sweetie, we’ll be home soon.”

Then Liam’s looking at the contact list on his phone again. He hits the lock button and then throws it. It sails through the air and splashes into the water with finality.

He doesn’t need it anymore.

He breathes heavily through his nose, trying to force back the tears that threaten to fall. Theo’s hand doesn’t move from his leg once and Liam is so very grateful.

“This friendship has gotten so serious,” Theo jokes quietly trying to lighten the mood. “I can’t believe I already met your parents.”

Liam lets out a watery laugh, his body sways in against Theo’s. Their sides pressing together. “I think they like you too.”

“Oh definitely,” Theo nods. “Your mom said I was cute.”

“She also said you’re a fashion disaster,” Liam points out the heart-wrenching feeling g in his chest slowly abating.

“Details, details,” Theo scoffs waving a flippant hand through the air.

Liam rolls his eyes and mumbles beneath his breath. “It’s an important detail.”

“You know,” Theo says slowly, his voice nearly a whisper. “I think my parents would have liked you, my sister, too.”

He glances over at Liam and adds. “She liked weird things.”

Liam feels remarkably touched for all of two seconds until he catches the last comment.

He narrows his eyes at Theo, lips pursing ever so slightly. “You calling me weird, Raeken?”

Theo lifts that single brow and pushes himself up to his feet so that he’s staring down at Liam with a faux imperious expression. “You honestly trying to deny it, Dunbar?”

Liam almost says yes but he holds it in. A typical person probably wouldn’t be in his shoes right now. He shakes his head and lets out an amused huff of air. “No, not really.”

“Good,” Theo pokes him in the shoulder roughly before holding out his hand to help Liam up. “It would have been a lie.”

Liam rolls his eyes again. Theo seems to have that effect on him. “Your sister would have like me so, I can deal with being weird.”

He takes Theo’s hand and Theo hoists him up from the bench. Theo smiles at him broadly, his hands traveling up to Liam’s shoulders, he twists Liam around and leans in close, his breath ghosting over Liam’s ear as he speaks. “Smart choice. Now, look over there and tell me what you see.”

Liam wrinkles his nose as he stares out at the wharf they just crossed. “I just see a lot of dark shops and unoperated rides, Theo.”

“Not on the wharf, Liam,” he twists Liam slightly, his arm coming over Liam’s shoulder to point just to the right. “There, by the beach.”

Liam squints through the looming darkness around them. He can see lights, like a car or a…

“It’s a taco truck!” Liam whirls around to face Theo incredulously. “There’s an actual taco truck over there, Theo, and it’s open!”

The look on Theo’s face is pure fondness. “Looks like we’ll get to eat Taco’s and die after all.”

 

* * *

 

They’re camped out on the back of Theo’s truck, watching the moonlight dance on the rolling ocean waves. It’s peaceful, nothing but the sound of water crashing on rocks and the soft trilling of birds. The air around them smells like salt and grilled meat from their tacos. Liam kicks his legs back and forth through the air, his knee pressed against Theo’s.

 “You’re a complete marshmallow,” Liam says into the silence.

Theo blinks at him in surprise, taco half raised to his mouth. “I’m—what?”

Liam flushes. He hasn’t meant to say it aloud, it had just been a thought going through his head as they sat side by side. He nods though.

“Yeah,” he waves a hand through the air. “I mean, you’re a burnt marshmallow but still a marshmallow, you know?”

“Not even a little bit,” Theo says with a light laugh. “Wanna explain?”

“It’s just, you walk around wearing this leather jacket,” Liam plucks at the shoulder of the jacket Theo’s wearing over his hideous green shirt. “And an unimpressed stare and you act a bit like an asshole at first but inside your all soft and gooey and sticky sweet.”

Theo’s forehead is wrinkled in confusion and Liam has the urge to reach up and smooth it away with his fingers, but he tamps down on the strange urge. Instead, he takes a bite of his own taco, the loud crunch-crunch of it filling up the space his words have carved out.

Theo’s giving him a weird look, his green eyes serious, but there’s a half smile on his mouth. “You’re so strange, you know that, right?”

“Maybe,” Liam says because at this point it is nearly a given. “But I’m right and there’s nothing you can do to convince me I’m wrong.”

Theo rolls his eyes and takes a large bite of his taco. Liam’s pretty sure it’s so he doesn’t have to respond. The air is filled with the sound of crunching tacos and rolling waves. Liam thinks about the ad he had written and bites back a smile. He’s eating tacos at the end of the world with a person, a person who started off the day as a stranger but somehow became important to Liam in less than 24 hours. It’s nothing like how he thought his life would be, but as far as endings go, it’s not that bad of one.

“Hey, Liam…” Theo says quietly.

“Yeah?”

Theo clears his throat, then he clears it again and says suddenly. “James was finally going to kiss Trevor.”

“Um, what?” Liam makes a face and turns to Theo, his brows furrowed in confusion. He doesn’t know anyone by the name of James or Trevor, but he supposes it’s nice that they finally kissed.

Theo plucks at the cilantro on his street taco and drops it onto the sand, Liam watches it blow away on the gentle breeze before Theo speaks again. “In the last book of As Lightning Strikes, James kisses Trevor.”

“How do you know—” Liam cuts himself off as realization dawns on him. “Oh my god! You’re Ted Beacon!”

Theo’s head dips down, but Liam can still see the bloom of red on his cheeks. “Yeah, I uh, saw my books on your shelf. I thought you might like to know that they finally got their shit together and were happy.”

“Oh my god, dude, I’m—” Liam flaps the hand not holding his taco. “I’m so happy. I’ve been rooting for them since book one when Trevor brought James back from hell. The chemistry was just unbelievable between the two of them. I kept thinking they should have kissed in that elevator.”

“They definitely kiss in an elevator, it just took a little more time.” Theo laughs, it’s soft and shy and Liam loves the sound of it.

“What?” Theo asks softly when he catches Liam still staring at him.

Liam shakes his head. “I’m glad you’re here with me, Theo,” he tells him honestly. “Thanks for answering that stupid ad on craigslist.”

“I’m glad I’m here with you, too.” Theo murmurs still staring down at his knees. “Thanks for making the end of the world less lonely.”

Liam sets his taco down on the bed of the truck and looks up at the sky, the night is slipping away and he’s completely terrified. He doesn’t even hesitate to reach over and grasp Theo’s hand in his. It’s warm and reassuring and Theo lets him hold on as a silence settles around them, the sky growing brighter and brighter like the sun is rising. Colors stream across the sky, fiery reds and burning golds lighting up the world and reflecting off the ocean.

The end of the world is beautiful.

“Hey, Liam…” Theo says one more time, his voice is low but there’s less hesitancy to it now, more determination.

“Yeah?” Liam’s voice is just as hushed as Theo’s.

He turns to face Theo, his heart thumping loudly in his chest. Theo is close, his warm breath caressing Liam’s chin as their noses knock into one another gently. Liam exhales shakily, his eyes lifting to stare into Theo’s. The light around them is reflected there in the bright blues and greens, flecks of brown shining like liquid honey.

Liam closes his eyes and Theo kisses him. Their mouths moving together desperately, hands clutching at each other’s shoulders and clothes like lifelines. There’s a roaring sound that encompasses them, loud and terrifying and Liam pulls Theo even closer. He’s scared and way too warm, but Theo’s mouth is soft beneath his and sweet, and Liam doesn’t want to ever pull away.

So, he doesn’t.

They kiss, and they kiss, and they—

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is an accident, it wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it.
> 
> Written for ThiamHalfBirthday: Stranger Danger


End file.
